JACKSONVILLE (November 19, 2012)—Debra Birch, 60, of Jacksonville, whom investigators described as a novice pilot, died after her small plane crashed into a hangar at an East Texas airport.

The Department of Public Safety said Birch was alone in the plane when the plane crashed at around 5 p.m. Sunday at the Cherokee County Airport near Jacksonville.

Birch was taken to a Jacksonville hospital where she died Sunday night.

Trooper Tyson Metzig said Birch was doing practice takeoffs and landings in a single-engine plane.

Her husband, Richard Birch, said his wife was on her third solo flight.

Parts of the plane ended up stuck atop the hangar.